Monos

This intense and masterful film was a major discovery and critical favourite at this year’s Berlin film festival. It follows a paramilitary group of teenagers that operates somewhere in the mountains of outback Colombia. Their mission, delivered to them by the Organisation, is to guard a kidnapped American woman called Doctora, as well as a cow by the name of Shakira. The teenagers also amuse themselves by performing brutal rituals that recall William Golding’s Lord of the Flies and Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.

The film deftly manages to convey the immense claustrophobia and sheer absurdity of the teenagers’ situation. Focusing on their struggle to survive, the story draws its inspiration from the civil war that raged in Colombia for many years. The astonishing cinematography brings to life the coolness of the mountains as well as the unbearable heat of the jungle.

The growing conflict within the group is subtly underscored by the nerve in Mica Levi’s (Under the Skin) score, as well as by some truly great performances.

Alejandro Landes (b. 1980) is a filmmaker born in São Paulo, Brazil, and raised in Ecuador and Colombia. His documentary Cocalero screened at the Sundance film festival in 2007 and was released theatrically in more than 20 countries. His first fiction feature Porfirio (2011) premiered at the film festival in Cannes and won a number of awards at international festivals.